I recently saw Danny Boyle's film Trance and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised and what we saw there gives me hope for what he could do with a heist film without the side-lines that the Trance thriller offered us, enjoyable as they were.

Why do I say that? Well he seems as though he may be directing a film about the Pink Panthers, a group of international thieves who have been responsible for some of the biggest and most audacious thefts in history.

The film is being billed as an adaptation of the recent documentary which was directed by Havana Marking called Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers, however you would expect this production to look back at the facts and the actual story and use the documentary as another source in order to make the final film.

Reading more about the Pink Panthers, as the armed criminal gang are so affectionately known, reveals just how big their organisation has become and how much they have been able to steal, perhaps hundreds of millions worth. Their crimes include some of the most well-known and with the biggest hauls in recent times.

You can read more about them over at Wikipedia where they also reveal about the members of the gang who have been identified and arrested, quite a few it would seem, as well as the reason they are called the Pink Panthers - for using the diamond hidden in the face cream trick from the film The Return of the Pink Panther.

Of course do bear in mind that the reality is always far less exotic and exciting than the myth, and despite the large hauls they are armed, organised criminals.

So a dramatic film directed by Danny Boyle will go a long way to stop that hype and the building of the glamour and infamy that accompanies the idea of jewellery heists and thieves.

Variety through First Showing are reporting that Boyle has signed to direct but that Boyle also has a couple of other films on his to-do list that might slow this one down, one of which is the eagerly awaited Trainspotting sequel, Porno.

Mind you there may be plenty of time for any of these films and more for this film doesn't yet appear to have a writer and Porno is far from being made.